How do you recover from a shutdown?

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It seems a lot of people here experience exactly what I do. As I said I don't know if it is Aspergers related or not or ADHD related or something else. For me the frustrating part is that the mind simply refuses to do the task assigned to it. It isn't idleness or rebellion - the mind simply goes blank and provides no thoughts on how the task can be started or handled. It is like I've become brain dead. However the circumstances dictate that the task MUST be done so the stress builds up. In such circumstances it is as though I'm forcing my mind so hard it "breaks" and shuts down. The onset of drowsiness occurs very suddenly and if I don't get off the chair and lay down there is a distinct possibility of slumping on the desk or falling on the floor asleep for several minutes.

The only way I've found to counter this is by playing certain relaxing classical music tracks then looking at the task. It is as though the music alters the brainwaves somehow and helps stop the blockage from forming. Then when the task is under way I can carry on without further problem.

I wait.

All systems go to standby.... and I wait for them to cool down before powering back up again. I can still perform repetitive rote actions or walk somewhere while in standby.... but anyone trying to talk to me might as well be trying to communicate with a wall.


I sorta remember though one time when I was getting drunk on Jack Daniels at a barbeque at someone's house, and when the party moved indoors.... and I won't mention my reasons for staying.... I went into compulsive cleaning mode, and became totally nonresponsive. I was just shuttling around, picking up empty beer-cans, straightening furniture and the rug into perpendicular angles.... and then went outside to sit on the step and mutter nonsensically in a monotone.

Last edited by SotiCoto on 29 May 2008, 3:57 am, edited 1 time in total.

play video games.

Some have actually caused me to shut down before, as stupid as that might sound. Usually the MMORPG variety.

Same here, WoW caused breakdowns for me quite a lot.

dont play it then. i wont realy start because i would be the lowest one abd there would be no chance of being realy good. unless i got the mystical sword that was prophesised by the accountent and hiden in the petty cash tin. (southpark)

Easier said than done.

I've switched my vice from Guild Wars to Mabinogi now.... but I've been trying to force myself to play other things lately. It just bugs me that the game is moving on without me and I don't want to be left behind. I've still got things to get done.... objectives to meet.... dungeon-grinding to do....
It is like work... but work that I subconsciously want to do in order to achieve things.
You just don't get that the same way with single-player games, because they can be COMPLETED.... MMORPGs can't really be completed that way. In that respect they're the games that keep on giving.
On the flipside, what they tend to keep on giving is mindless grind.... but somehow I have a rather high tolerance for that.

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Yup. MMOs are like a drug that keeps you wanting more. For some reason ive always been tolerant of grinding as well. But i luckily lost my fun with wow when i couldnt progress anymore, and i felt like i HAD to do it. Not cause i wanted to, but because the game kept moving and i sort of HAD to see what happened. I eventually started avoiding it and now i dont really feel the need to log on anymore. But i still miss certain aspects of it... Weird

I still get like that about Guild Wars.
I don't have enough time to dedicate to BOTH Mabinogi and Guild Wars, and feel I may be strongly slipping in my attention to the latter (which in a temporal sense, was played formerly). I know I made a conscious decision to play another game because Guild Wars was seriously beginning to bore me (I'd completed all the campaigns, mapped out all the space there was to map out, and only had Hard-Mode title tracks and perpetual grind left to do).... but in some ways I feel guilty about abandoning it.... like my characters were some sort of virtual pets who will die if I don't give them my attention. =(

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I felt the same way My characters are still there, but i feel bad for not "visiting" them. Like they are my real life friends or something... I still miss my mounts as well... Its a really weird feeling.

Shutdowns? Yup. Worst after big social events with very unexpected things going on, like meetings where someone gets cross, or when I have to be too "NT" for too long. Or sensory overload from unexpected physical contact. I shut down. I can't say anything or do anything, or if I can, it's only at a very basic level. I have to sleep for a while to function normally again. It can be very scary indeed. I wonder if it's related to the 'petit mal' epileptic events that some people get. Perhaps our brain wiring does the same thing if continually overloaded?

whenever I shutdown I do not do a thing. I just simply shutdown. And the only recovery is all in due time. I shutdown until everything stops that I do not want going on usually.

This is weird...I don't act this way at all...

I do get shutdowns, but they're caused by me being extremely upset, not stress.

What happens to me in the situation in the PDF (being pressured to do a difficult task) is totally different...I'll become irate, drop whatever I'm trying to do (sometimes literally), and start punching things/hitting myself. I'll fling my arms and head around for a while. I have to stop and start doing breathing exercises for a while, and then wait until I'm done being shakey. Sort of similar to what I've read about violent meltdowns, I guess.

So that is what they call it, a shutdown. Yes, I have days at work where I feel like that, overwhelmed, can't think straight, panicky. When I get home my brain is just numb.

Drinking. Drinking is how I recover from it. It shuts down my brain then I crawl off to bed. Sometimes it is so bad I have to take time off work. One time they "made" me take time off work. I wasn't too happy about that, felt like I was being punished and that it may be held against me some time in the future. Some might think I am being paranoid about that, but hey, I have witnessed incidents where you just never never know.

Ok, I can't TELL you how many times a day this happens. It'll even sometimes happen when it's something I want to do. (Though very rarely)
This is one of my BIG problems, and not only do I know it's going to get worse next year (Almost half my classes will be Maths, the worst offender.) but also that it's going to be more of a problem that it does. I want help, but at the same time I'm not sure how to go about it, as my parents are sure to deny it's anything that severe. (I've asked them about it many times over the years, every time the answer has been: "Just try harder.")


Meltdowns and shutdowns are impossible to tell apart for me until afterwards. It has more to do with the recovery period, and weather or not I'm willing to speak to people afterward. This has only happened at home so far, though. (School doesn't cause as much stress as home)
My longest shut down haas been for 3 days. I wouldn't speak to anyone. But that was when I was little. The worst I've had the last few years has lasted maybe a day and a bit.

Yes, I have experienced all of those. I pretty much retreat. SLEEP HELPS!! !